Sinn Féin's non-participation:Sinn Féin was not invited to attend the Battle of the Boyne battlefield visit yesterday, but the party appears content to have stood aside from the event.
The visit took place as a result of interaction between Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Northern Ireland First Minister, Dr Ian Paisley, over many months.
Significant numbers of Democratic Unionist Party members from throughout the North, and particularly from Dr Paisley's Ballymena constituency, were invited.
Asked about the absence of the North's Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said that he "could not answer" for him.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, as head of Government, had invited Dr Paisley to Oldcastle to show him what "we intend to do to allow them to celebrate their heritage at a very important site", the Minister for Foreign Affairs said.
Asked about the lack of Sinn Féin representation at the event, a spokeswoman for the party said: "It was an invitation to Dr Paisley. We're quite happy to let them get on with it. There's no big deal about it.
"If Dr Paisley had wanted us to be there, we would have looked favourably on it. It was an invitation to him."
She added: "It was good to see it happening."
